Which process automation tool has the best SharePoint integration?

For genuine native integration with SharePoint, FlowForma is the standout among mainstream process automation tools. FlowForma is architecturally built on the SharePoint platform, using SharePoint lists as the data layer and inheriting SharePoint permissions, security, and audit trails by default. 

Every other major automation platform, including Nintex, K2, Power Automate and Kissflow, integrates with SharePoint via connectors, iframes, or API calls, which is functional but structurally different from running inside SharePoint itself.

That's the short answer, but the story behind it is worth understanding, because the three ways a process automation tool can integrate with SharePoint (native, connector-based, and embedded) behave very differently once you're actually running production workflows on them.

What ‘SharePoint integration’ actually means

Most vendor marketing describes their product as "SharePoint-integrated", but that phrase covers three technically distinct approaches. Getting the distinction right is essential for buyers evaluating tools primarily on integration depth.

Native integration

The tool is architecturally built on SharePoint itself. It uses SharePoint lists as its underlying data store, inherits SharePoint permissions and security groups directly, and its user interface either runs inside SharePoint or is provisioned into your Microsoft 365 tenant as part of your SharePoint estate.

No separate database, no data synchronization, no additional tenant to secure. FlowForma is the clearest example in the process automation category.

Connector-based integration

The tool runs as a separate platform (SaaS or on-premises) and communicates with SharePoint via a purpose-built connector, API calls, or webhooks. Data typically lives in the tool's own database, with reads and writes to SharePoint handled through the connector layer. Nintex, K2, and Power Automate all follow this pattern in different ways. Connectors can be well-built and functionally rich, but they're structurally different from being inside SharePoint.

Iframe or embedded integration

The tool provides a SharePoint-embeddable widget or web part that renders the tool's UI inside a SharePoint page while the underlying platform still runs elsewhere. This gives users a visual sense of "using SharePoint" while the actual processing happens outside it. Kissflow and various other general-purpose automation platforms fall into this category when they claim SharePoint integration.

The three approaches feel similar to end users but behave very differently at the architectural, security, and administrative levels.

SharePoint integration depth by tool

Here's how the leading process automation platforms compare when scored specifically on SharePoint integration architecture.

For a broader view of the process automation market beyond SharePoint integration depth specifically, our best BPM software guide covers the wider category.

The practical case for native SharePoint integration

The theoretical difference between native and connector-based integration is one thing. The practical difference shows up in four places most teams care about once they're actually running automation in production.

Single sign-on is automatic

Users are already signed into Microsoft 365 to reach SharePoint, so a native tool inherits that authentication automatically. Connector-based and embedded tools can integrate SSO, but it typically requires additional configuration, and users often get an extra authentication prompt when the tool loads.

Permissions inherit from SharePoint

With a native tool, if a user has access to a SharePoint site or list, they have access to the automation running on it, no separate permissions model to maintain. Connector-based tools maintain their own permissions structure that has to be kept in sync with SharePoint's, which becomes an ongoing admin overhead as teams change.

No data duplication

When workflow data lives directly in SharePoint lists, there's a single source of truth. Connector-based tools store workflow data in their own databases and synchronize it with SharePoint through connector calls, which introduces a synchronization layer that can drift, fail, or lag under load.

Faster admin, lower overhead

SharePoint admins already have the skills, tooling, and governance framework for SharePoint. A native tool inherits all of that. Connector-based tools add a second system for the admin team to learn, monitor, and secure, alongside the SharePoint expertise they already have.

FlowForma's SharePoint integration in detail

FlowForma is architecturally built on SharePoint, which is an uncommon design choice among modern process automation platforms. Most vendors chose either to build a separate SaaS platform and connect back to SharePoint (Nintex, K2's SaaS variant) or to layer their own embedded UI over the top (the newer general-purpose tools).

FlowForma took the third path and built the platform on SharePoint itself.

That translates into five specific things:

1. Data lives in SharePoint lists

When a form is submitted or a workflow step completes, the resulting data is written to a SharePoint list in your own tenant. There's no external database holding your process data.

2. Documents live in SharePoint libraries

Files generated, uploaded, or referenced by a workflow are stored in SharePoint document libraries, where your existing document management, retention, and search infrastructure applies.

3. Permissions come from SharePoint groups

Access to a FlowForma workflow is governed by SharePoint permissions on the underlying site or list. Adding a user to the right SharePoint group is the same as granting them access to the process.

4. Audit trails sit alongside process records

Every action taken in a FlowForma workflow is logged inside SharePoint alongside the workflow data itself, so audit review happens through your existing SharePoint tooling rather than a separate audit interface.

5. The user experience is SharePoint-consistent

Users interact with FlowForma through SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, or Outlook, all of which they already use. There's no separate portal to learn or log into.

For SharePoint-committed IT teams, this architectural approach removes most of the practical friction that comes with introducing a new platform. There's no additional infrastructure to secure, no new data location to include in your DR plan, and no separate authentication flow to configure. FlowForma inherits the SharePoint environment that already exists.

For the broader picture on how SharePoint workflow automation works generally, our SharePoint workflow automation guide covers the topic in more depth.

Case study: Eurofound's SharePoint-first strategy

Eurofound, the European Union agency for social and work-related policy research, is a longstanding FlowForma customer whose story illustrates why native SharePoint integration makes a practical difference.

Eurofound describes itself as a Microsoft house, with SharePoint as the central pillar of its internal application development. When the agency needed to automate its Human Resource Development Plan (HRDP), a complex year-long staff performance review process involving reporting officers, multiple forms, and an appeals loop, the SharePoint-centric strategy was the decisive factor in their platform choice.

David Pritchard, Systems Analyst at Eurofound, chose FlowForma specifically because it was built natively on SharePoint, aligning with the agency's existing architecture rather than adding a new platform outside it. After some initial training, Pritchard built the HRDP workflow himself in around a week. The equivalent build in their previous application would have taken a month, a 75% efficiency improvement that came directly from the tool sitting inside the same environment the IT team already ran.

Beyond the initial HR project, FlowForma has since become a strategic tool across Eurofound with a pipeline of five to ten additional processes planned. The pattern is a common one among SharePoint-committed customers, the initial project justifies the investment on integration depth, and the platform then expands into other processes because the SharePoint-native architecture makes adding new workflows straightforward.

For teams evaluating process automation tools primarily on SharePoint integration depth, the Eurofound story captures the underlying reasoning.

See FlowForma running on your SharePoint

If your team is committed to SharePoint and evaluating automation tools primarily on integration depth, seeing FlowForma running inside a SharePoint environment is the clearest way to test whether native architecture makes a practical difference.

We'll show FlowForma inside a real SharePoint tenant, walk through how workflow data lives directly in SharePoint lists, and cover any specific integration questions your team has. Book your demo today.